Posts by Irene Calimlim

We hear a lot of talk these days about “inner cities.” During his campaign, our new president characterized them as “a disaster education-wise, job-wise, safety-wise, in every way possible,” and proposed ramping up policing as the catch-all solution. This ignores how racist practices like redlining caused this “disorder” in the first place. Low-income neighborhoods and communities of color literally had big red lines drawn around them, deeming these sections undesirable and cutting them off from mortgage loans, capital and investments. Instead, the redlined communities got things like environmental hazards, waste sites, liquor stores and fast-food restaurants, while more productive businesses, jobs, and schools deteriorated. Yet instead of trying to fix…Continue reading